Letters to the Editor
Fully exonerated but not compensated
To The Editor:
Glen Edward Chapman, Howard Dudley, and Michael Parker were fully exonerated and released from prison. But after serving more than 60 years in total for crimes they never committed, they’re still blocked from even applying for the compensation owed to them by the State of North Carolina.
In our home state (as in only three others), an innocent person must be formally pardoned by the governor before they can apply for such restitution. An ironic technicality when you consider that in the case of Howard Dudley, a 15-minute investigation, including exactly one witness, was used to put him behind bars for more than 25 years. The technicalities of good investigative practice should have prevented him being wrongly convicted in the first place. And now a technicality is preventing right from being done.
Governor Cooper, I respectfully and urgently urge you to pardon Glen Edward Chapman, Howard Dudley, and Michael Parker as soon as possible, and before the new year. Pardons for these men will allow the possibility that they can receive at least a fraction of what was taken from them by our own state.
In my Christian upbringing I was taught to imagine what it’s like to walk a mile in another person’s shoes. When I think about these men’s journey, my feet hurt.
Please, Governor Cooper, take action now, and bring them some well-deserved relief.
Kimberly Thornton Scholl
Winston-Salem
Gov. Cooper: pardon exonerated men
To The Editor:
I am calling on Governor Cooper to formally pardon Howard Dudley, Michael Parker and Glen Edward Chapman. It’s difficult to understand why they have not yet been pardoned. These men were all incarcerated for many years for crimes they did not commit and have been legally exonerated. Unfortunately, N.C. is one of a few states that require a formal pardon from the governor to allow them to receive any compensation for the years they spent separated from their families and the workforce, let alone their effort to reenter society. They cannot close the book on this chapter of their lives without the governor’s pardon.
It would be an incredible way to end this challenging year if the governor would move forward with pardons for these people. I would hate to see them begin another year without the ability to reclaim their lives after the nightmare of wrongful incarceration.
Ann Zimmerman
Winston Salem
